Independent Solomon Islands inherited lands that the colonial state had acquired
and dedicated for forest use. Solomon Islanders became increasingly wary of the
government's intentions regarding control of these lands and, by the late 1960s,
as political consciousness increased, resistance grew to government purchase and
reservation through legislation. Pressure by Solomon Islanders caused the colonial
government to limit its attempts to control the forest resource for the public
good, a process that accelerated after independence in 1978. Since then, in the
face of an expanding Asian market for timber, the claims of resource owners and
a revenue-seeking central government have seen frantic logging of customary
land by mainly Asian logging companies, with little tangible return to Solomon
Islanders. Provincial governments and rural communities are already demanding
control of public lands, a demand that may be resisted by the central government
as timber on customary land is worked out and plantation forests mature.